12/26/2016 CalculatingweldvolumeandweightJobKnowledge95

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Calculatingweldvolumeandweight
JobKnowledge95
Calculatingthevolumeofaweldisoneofthefirststepstobetakenwhenestimatingthecostofmakingaweld.

Withthisinformation,andknowingthedepositionrateoftheprocess,itispossibletodeterminethearctime(the
lengthoftimethatanarcisburninganddepositingweldmetal)andtheamountofweldingconsumablesrequiredto
fillthejoint.Bothofthesearerequiredinordertocalculatethecostofmakingtheweld.Costingwillbedealtwithin
futureJobKnowledgearticles.

Determiningthevolumeofaweldrequiressomeknowledgeofbasicgeometricalcalculationstodeterminetheareaof
theweldandmultiplythisfigurebyitslength.Thefirststepthenistocalculatethecrosssectionalareaofthejoint.

Withafilletweldora45singlebeveljointthisisrelativelysimplebutthecalculationsbecomelengthierastheweld
preparationbecomesmorecomplex.Fig.1illustrateshowsimplethiscalculationisforanequalleglengthfilletweld
theareaofsuchaweldishalfthesquareoftheleglength,Z.Whenusingthisformuladonotforgetthatwelders
seldomdepositpreciselythesizeofweldcalleduponthedrawingorintheweldingprocedureandthattheremaybe
someexcessweldmetalonthefaceoftheweld.

Fig.1.Areaofanequalleg
lengthfilletweld

AnasymmetricalfilletweldisalittlemoredifficulttheareaofatriangleisgivenbythebaseZ2timestheheightZ1
dividedby2sowhenafilletweldisdepositedwithunequalleglengthstheareacanbecalculatedfrommultiplying
thethroat,a,bythelengthofthefaceIanddividedby2asillustratedinFig.2.

Fig.2.Areaofanunequalleg
lengthfillet

Turningnowtobuttwelds,thecalculationsbecomealittlemorecomplex.

TherearethreefactorsthatdeterminethevolumeoftheweldinasingleVbuttweld.Thesearetheangleofthe
bevel,b,theexcessweldmetalandtherootgap,g,asillustratedinFig3.Tocalculatetheareaofthisweldweneed
tobeabletoaddtogethertheareasofthefourcomponentsillustratedinFig.3.

Fig.3.ThefourareasofasingleV
buttweld

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12/26/2016 CalculatingweldvolumeandweightJobKnowledge95
Thedimension'c'isgivenby(tanbxt)theareaofasingleredtriangleisthereforet(tanbxt)/2.Thetotalareaof
thetworedregionsaddedtogethercanbecalculatedusingtheformula2t(tanbxt)/2ort(tanbxt).

Thewidthoftheweldcap,w,isgivenbyW=2(tanbxt)+g.

Theareaoftheexcessweldmetalisapproximatedbytheformula(Wxh)/2.

Theareaprovidedbytherootgapbygxt.

Thebevelangles,b,mostoftenusedare10=(tan0.176),15=(tan0.268),22.5=(tan0.414)32.5=(tan
0.637)and45=(tan1.00).Aswillbecomeobviouswhentheweightiscalculated,itiseasiertoensurethatthe
decimalpointisintherightplaceifcentimetresareusedinthecalculationsratherthanmillimetres.

Asaworkedexample,iftheweldisinaplate2.5cmthickness,0.3cmrootgap,65includedangle(b=32.50tan
32.5=0.637)andwithacapheightof0.2cmwehave:

1.c=tan32.5x2.5=0.637x2.5=1.59cm
2.w=2(0.637x2.5)+0.3=3.485cmsotheareaofthecap=(3.485x0.2)/2=0.348sq.cm.
3.areaoftheorangearea=0.3x2.5=0.75sq.cm.
4.areaofthetworedareas=2x(1.59x2.5)/2=3.97sq.cm.

Thisgivesatotalareaof5.07sqcm.Thevolumecanthenbecalculatedbymultiplyingthelengthoftheweldbythe
areaensuringthatthislengthisalsogivenincentimetres!

Conventionally,thevolumeisoftenexpressedincubiccentimetres(cu.cm).permetresointhisexamplethevolume
is507cu.cm/metre.

Toobtaintheweightofweldmetalthisfigureisthenmultipliedbythedensityofthealloy.Table1givesthedensity
ofsomeofthemorecommonalloysingm/cu.cm.Notethatwithsomealloysthealloyingelementscanchangethe
densityquitesignificantly.

Table1.Densitiesofsomeofthemorecommonalloys.

Alloy Density(gm/cm3)
iron 7.87
0.25%carbonsteel 7.86
12%Crsteel 7.70
304stainlesssteel 7.92
nickel 8.90
80/20Ni.Cr 8.40
625typealloy 8.44
copper 8.94
70/30brass 8.53
7%Albronze 7.89
aluminium 2.70
Al5052 2.65
Al7075 2.8
Theweightofweldmetaltofillonemetrelengthofthejointdescribedabovewouldthereforebeincarbonsteel(507
x7.86)=3985gmsor3.98kgs/metreina5XXXseriesaluminiumalloy(507x2.65)=1343gms,1.34kgs/metre.

CalculatingtheweightofweldmetalindoublesidedVjointsusesthesameapproachbydividingtheweldintoits
individual'V'sandaddingtheproducts.

AJpreparation,however,addsanotherareaintotheequationthatofthehalfcircleattherootoftheweld,see
Fig.4.Theformulaegivenabovetocalculate'c',theareaofthetworedcomponentsandtheexcessweldmetal
remainunchangedbutthewidthofthecapmustbeincreasedby2r.Therearealsothetwoareas,'A'and'B',to
calculateandthetwowhiterootradiusareastobeaddedtothetotal.

Fig.4.Single'U'preparation(other
notationasinFig.3)

Therelevantformulaearethus:

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12/26/2016 CalculatingweldvolumeandweightJobKnowledge95
1.thedimension'c'isgivenby(tanbx(tr))thetotalareaofthetworedregionsisthereforegivenbythe
formula2((tr)(tanbx(tr))/2or((t.r)(tanbx(tr)).
2.thewidthoftheweldcap,w,isgivenbyw=2(tanbx(tr))+g+2r.
3.theareaoftheexcessweldmetalisgivenbytheformula(wxh)/2.
4.thearea'A'is(tr)x(2r+g).
5.thearea'B'isgxr.
6.therootradiusareais(r2)/4

ForadoubleUpreparationitisnecessarytocalculatetheareasofbothsidesandaddthesetogether.

Havingcalculatedtheweightofweldmetalrequiredtofillaweldpreparationitisthenpossibletocalculatetheweight
offillermetalrequired(thesetwofiguresarenotnecessarilythesame)andtoestimatethetimerequiredtodeposit
thisweldmetalbothessentialinordertoarriveatacostoffabricatingtheweld.ThiswillbecoveredinfutureJob
Knowledgearticles.

ThisarticlewaswrittenbyGeneMathers.

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